Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'International criminal courts – Cases'

Under traditional international law governed by the concept of state sovereignty, any alleged responsibility for international wrongdoings used to be attributed to the state alone. Indeed, the role of an individual in traditional international law was marginalized. This position of an individual in international law began to change from the 20th century. Responsibility of individuals for breaches of international law started to be addressed in a relatively new branch of international law: international criminal law. International criminal law qualifies certain types of conduct as crimes under international law incurring individual criminal responsibility. In this context, the 20th century witnessed development of various international and hybrid judicial mechanisms for prosecution of individuals who commit these crimes. What if these individuals happen to be heads of state? The principle of individual criminal responsibility for crimes under international law is firmly established. However, the enforcement of this principle can, in some circumstances, be frustrated by operation of another well established principle, immunity of a Head of State based largely on the notions of sovereign equality of states.

Magister Legum - LLM
The International Criminal Court (hereafter ‘ICC’ or ‘the Court’), in its fight against impunity is slated to put on trial, in conformity with Article 27 of the Rome Statute1, an incumbent Head of State and his Deputy for crimes under Article 7 of the Statute. The President and Deputy President of the Republic of Kenya are currently accused of crimes against humanity before the ICC, for acts of violence perpetrated in the wake of the December 2007 presidential and parliamentary elections. This research is a study of the ICC’s conceptual framework and positive implementation of its mandate with respect to prosecuting Kenya’s top leaders. By critically evaluating the cases against President Kenyatta and Deputy President Ruto, this research aims to assess the feasibility of such high-profile cases which have, in part, contributed to the hostility surrounding the Court in its fight against impunity. To this end, the factual and legal background, as well as the political context of the cases will be discussed.

The International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY) has been both contentious and successful. By examining the ICTY from a Levinasian ethical standpoint, we might be able to understand how the court uses language to enforce ethical and moral standards upon post-war societies. Using linguistic methods of analysis combined with traditional data about the ICTY, I empirically examine the court using ordinary least squares (OLS) in order to show the impact that language has upon the court's decision making process. I hypothesize that the court is an ethical entity, and therefore we should not see any evidence of bias against Serbs and that language will provide a robust view of the court as an ethical mechanism.

This thesis critically examines the role, scope and implications of victims' participation in international criminal proceedings, drawing from the development of human rights doctrine, victimology and practices in domestic and international criminal justice systems. The comprehensive and in-depth analysis of the complex and multifaceted legal mechanism of victim participation is conducted primarily through the lens of the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia (ECCC), examination of which constitutes the core of this thesis. In light of the specific characteristics of international criminal law, this thesis analyses the statutory and jurisprudential developments that have defined the ambit and boundaries of the participation of victims in international criminal proceedings. The research is conducted against a theoretical and case law backdrop, drawing on interviews conducted with judges, lawyers and victims at the ECCC. The interpretation of victims' participatory rights in international criminal proceedings has been significantly diffuse and at times divergent, betraying a far from cohesive and consistent approach, and making the study of civil party participation at the ECCC an excellent medium through which to explore the breadth of victim participation as a legal mechanism. Victim participation is still in its infancy in international criminal proceedings, and as such, the trials at the ECCC have appeared more as 'experimenting laboratories' than as processes guided by sound and well-crafted rules and procedures. This thesis argues that whilst the apparent benefits of participation seem self-evident, and may lead, at least in theory, to the realisation of the aspiration of restorative justice for victims, the manner in which civil party participation has been crafted and interpreted in the trials before the ECCC has raised some important issues and questions regarding its role and impact with respect to the functionality of court proceedings, the rights of the accused, and the rights of victims themselves.

It has been claimed that internationalized, or "hybrid" courts, courts which mix international and local personnel and international and domestic law, can be used to replace or complement the work of the International Criminal Court. Four such hybrid courts---courts located in Kosovo, East Timor, Cambodia and Sierra Leone, have either just completed their work or are far enough along in their operation to provide a type of "justice laboratory" to test this claim. Analysis reveals that the performance of these courts has been poor. It shows that the courts in Kosovo and East Timor were doomed to failure, that the court in Cambodia is headed in the same direction, and that only the court operating in Sierra Leone offers a possibility that something close to justice will result. The summary recommendation drawn from the analysis is that hybrid courts should only be employed where: (1) international personnel control the proceedings, (2) the legal framework of the court conforms to international standards, and (3) the sponsors of the enterprise possess a clear ability, and demonstrate a credible commitment, to try and punish those most responsible for committing gross human rights offenses.

The principle of complementarity is the cornerstone of the establishment of the International Criminal Court as well as one of the key factors for its successful operation.  Having said that, the qualities of being flexible and adaptable make the task of interpreting the principle of complementarity extremely sensitive and technically tricky.  According to the current wording of the principle of complementarity in the Rome Statute, the ICC could factually exercise primacy over the national jurisdiction, if a loose interpretation of the principle is adopted, or conversely being residual to national jurisdictions, if the principle was strictly interpreted. While the principle of complementarity was at the heart of the negotiating process for the establishment of the International Criminal Court, the emerging practice of the Court to date has left the vast majority of the questions on complementarity unanswered, even the few issues which the Court has touched upon are not immune from criticism. This thesis will thus strive, through an in-depth analysis of the past, present and practice of the principle of complementarity and its corollary issues, to offer workable answers as well as constructive criticism.  Guided by the central objective of ending impunity for the core crimes through criminal justice, this thesis, in interpreting the principle of complementarity, will follow a balanced approach which, while unequivocally favours national prosecutions where possible, it adopts a broadening interpretation when national jurisdictions are genuinely unavailable or ineffective.  To this end, this thesis eventually presents the principle of complementarity as a managerial principle which promotes for the effective investigation and prosecution of the core crimes through the adoption of different policies which encourage, inter alia, a division of labour between the International Criminal Court and domestic jurisdictions, and enable states to carry out proceedings and overcome dilemmas of ‘inability’ or ‘unwillingness’ without the role of the International Criminal Court being limited in such incidents to excluding national jurisdiction.

International criminal courts do not operate to the exclusion of national legal orders, but co-exist with them. The present thesis provides an in-depth analysis of the above relationship. By examining the concepts of primacy and complementarity on the basis of which the ad hoc international criminal Tribunals and the permanent International Criminal Court seize jurisdiction, the foundations of the interface are explored. As effectiveness is a key concept to international criminal justice, the relationship between international criminal courts and national legal systems is tested, by examining the co-operation regimes envisaged in the Statutes of both the Tribunals and the ICC, as well as the problems that arise in practice. Moreover, the way the UN Security Council affects State interplay with international criminal justice institutions is crucial for a holistic understanding of the limitations of the interaction. The final part of the thesis focuses on national incorporation efforts and provides a detailed analysis of implementing legislation of a number of key States with a view to discerning some common approaches and highlighting problem areas. The present thesis argues that despite the different constitutional bases of the Tribunals and the ICC, similar questions of interface with national courts arise and the challenges presented could be better tackled by aiming for a "functional or workable interaction". Overall, the originality of this thesis lies in its analytical approach. By scrutinising a number of crucial aspects of the relationship between international criminal courts and national legal orders an overview of the research question posed is achieved. Moreover, the examination of the legal principles and their practical application is complemented by a comprehensive discussion of national implementing legislation which has not previously been attempted in a similar manner. [Files associated with the accompanying CD-ROM (print version) are available on request to subject librarian.]

The ICC, which came into force in 2002, was held up by human rights activists as a force that would transform a culture of impunity into a culture of accountability. However, after five years of activity, the evidence suggests that the Court's effect has been mixed. Its ability to achieve retributive justice, broader reconciliation and restorative justice, as well as to deter future offences and promote peace has been variable, at best. Despite the Court's claim that politics are not its job, political missteps and support are adversely affecting the work of a judicious Court. Using the cases of Uganda and Darfur, this paper argues that the most significant factors impacting the Court's ability to achieve the four aims outlined are its lack of enforcement capacity, lack of international political will, the result of geo-political interests and concerns over the norm of state sovereignty, and lack of attention to political context by the Court itself.

The dissertation applies an innovative interdisciplinary design to explain which conditions or combinations of conditions are causally relevant for effective state cooperation with international criminal courts and tribunals. I answered the research question by conducting two empirical analyses. The first study places states at the centre of the analysis. The literature review identified six conditions: court independence; court outreach; international interests (such as the threat of sanctions or the promise of membership of an international organisation); the proximity of suspects to the state’s political or military elite; the state’s institutionalisation of relevant law; and government stability. These conditions were divided into two groups, according to their proximity to the state. It was then possible to analyse how different constellations of court outreach and international interests interact with state level conditions (government stability, institutionalisation and proximity of suspects to elites). The qualitative comparative analysis (QCA) relies on an original dataset of 34 cases related to the cooperation of Kenya, Uganda, Serbia and Croatia cooperation with the International Criminal Court and the Yugoslav Tribunal was created. By using two-step QCA to account for the interactions of conditions, the dissertation answers the question of which tools might be used to promote cooperation. Two pathways sufficient for cooperation were identified. The results indicate that even when proximity of suspects to elites is significant, cooperation can be achieved when international pressure combines with outreach and a high level of ICL institutionalisation. The second pathway suggests that cooperation follows when suspects do not hold high-level leadership positions. Even in this situation, international pressure and outreach play a role. The second analysis, a small-n QCA of five human rights and international criminal courts, assessed whether court independence has an influence on cooperation. The results suggest that independence positively affects cooperation only in presence of a contextual factor, high degree of norm socialisation among state parties.

In international criminal law (ICL), legal meaning has been developed substantially through the judgments of international courts. Compared to some of their prosecutorial decisions, however, the way in which international judges have interpreted legal provisions has remained relatively uncontested. This study uses practice theory as a particularly fruitful lens through which to study the politics of legal interpretation. It analyses the conditions under which the creation of a comparatively uncontested judicial space became possible as an interplay between political commitments and the professional assumptions of ICL experts. The study argues that international criminal courts - unlike hybrid courts - have been accorded a particularly high degree of interpretive authority through what will be called the 'practice of privileged precedent'. It traces how this interpretive practice has been shared across institutional settings within a broader interpretive community, including by government officials and civil society representatives. Through this research, this thesis emphasises the relevance of legal interpretation for IR's understanding of international law and international courts. Drawing on legal theory, it also addresses one of the key challenges of IR's practice turn: its capacity to account for the creative potential of international practices. Methodologically, the thesis combines qualitative and quantitative forms of content analysis, elite interviews, and legal interpretive methods. It is based on an examination of over 100 judgments of international and hybrid criminal courts interpreting the crime of genocide and the law of war crimes, including judicial decisions delivered by the International Criminal Court (ICC), the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY), the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR), and the Special Court for Sierra Leone (SCSL). This analysis is supplemented by 28 elite interviews with judges and legal experts at international criminal courts, staff at civil society organisations, and government officials working for the British and German foreign offices.

This thesis critically examines the origins and development of international criminal lave to identify the defining features of this emerging legal tradition. It critically evaluates the experimental approach taken in Article 21 of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, which attempts to codify an untested normative super-structure to guide this legal tradition.
International criminal law is a hybrid tradition which seeks legitimacy and answers to difficult questions by drawing on other established legal traditions. Its development at the confluence of public international law, international humanitarian law, international human rights law and national criminal laws has resulted in gaps in difficult cases with no clear answers. These lacunae have been filled by recourse to judicial discretion, exercised consistent with Patrick Glenn's theory of transnational common laws, and by privileging one of the competing aims of international criminal law: enhancing humanitarian protection versus maximizing fairness to the accused.

Thesis (M.A. in National Security Affairs)--Naval Postgraduate School, June 2003.
Thesis advisor(s): Daniel Moran, James Armstead. Includes bibliographical references (p. 59-62). Also available online.

Doctor Legum - LLD
The main contributor of situations before the International Criminal Court (hereinafter ICC) has been state parties that have referred situations on their own territory to the ICC through “self-referral”. This study examines the concept of self-referral tracing the history of voluntary deferral by states of their jurisdiction over international crimes up to the enactment of the Rome Statute. The study finds that states were historically reluctant to have international crimes committed on their territory handled by other bodies or states. The self-referrals under the ICC regime are therefore a novelty in international criminal law. The legality of the act of self-referral under the Rome Statute is also examined and it is concluded that self-referrals are provided for within the Statute, although their legality has been questioned. The study establishes that self-referrals have seen unprecedented cooperation by territorial states but have also been selective in nature, targeting only non-state actors (rebel groups) .The study further compares the ICC’s handling of two other situations (Kenya and Darfur) which were triggered by antagonistic proprio motu and UN Security Council referrals respectively. The ultimate collapse of cases arising out of the Kenyan situation plus the suspension of investigations in Darfur due to non-cooperation is significant when compared with the relative successes registered with self-referred situations. The study concludes that whereas self-referrals may involve concessions to the territorial state like non-prosecution of state actors, this is a necessary evil to ensure successful investigations and prosecutions of international crimes. I recommend at the end of the study that in order to shield the office of the ICC Prosecutor from the diplomacy, dirty international politics and compromises at play in securing referrals as well as cooperation during the entire prosecution process, there should be a separate organ of the ICC handling investigations and interactions with states.

This thesis examines the practical project to make international criminal justice more victimoriented by giving it an additional reparations function. Animated by the dissonance between the idea of reparations and its practice in international criminal justice, this study relies on the firstever reparations orders by the International Criminal Court (ICC) and the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia (ECCC) to complement legalistic accounts in the scholarly literature with a socio-legal inquiry. Drawing on practice theory, I use the notion of ‘practices’ as an analytical lens to show forms of social actions that together enable and constrain reparations. Rather than starting with preconceived notions of reparations, this approach draws attention to the multitude of practices of judges, lawyers, diplomats, NGO workers and others that often get overlooked in scholarly research. I ask: what are the practices associated with reparations in international criminal justice? And how do these practices shape the possibilities and meanings of reparations? Building on documentary analysis, ethnographically informed fieldwork and practitioner interviews, this study makes visible the often hidden practices that together form the social life of reparations. This thesis identifies what practices exist, how they come to be, how they work, and what meanings and effects they produce. My observations are structured along four phases of the social life of reparations – norm-making, engagement with conflict-affected populations, adjudication and implementation – and focus on two case studies: the cases Lubanga and Katanga at the ICC, concerning the Ituri district of the Democratic Republic of Congo, and Cases 001 and 002/01 at the ECCC in Cambodia. The thesis shows how contestations over sometimes irreconcilable visions of justice are at the core of the production of reparations. The incorporation of competing rationales into the legal frameworks of both Courts continues to affect their operations. The study demonstrates how actors at and around these Courts actively mediate these tensions, through their practices, when they are giving effect to their reparations mandates in different social contexts. I identify a range of communicative, representational and adjudicative practices that simultaneously constrain action and become sources of flexible adaptation to make reparations fit new circumstances. However, these practices are not able to overcome the limitations that are inherent in the Courts’ juridical approach. The thesis indicates that the promise of more 'victim-oriented justice' through reparations has been realised only superficially, and that reparations remain marginalised and subordinated to the dominant logics of the criminal trial. I call for an appreciation of the limits of recasting international criminal justice as a site for realising reparative ambitions. This does not mean that there is no role for reparations in international criminal justice. I argue that the role is a more modest one than the literature or advocates often suggest – one that is rooted in the Courts’ symbolic powers to recognise, rather their ability to deliver tangible and equitable reparations to a large number of survivors.

Thesis (M.A. in Stabilization and Reconstruction)--Naval Postgraduate School, March 2005.
Thesis Advisor(s): Douglas Porch, Nancy Roberts. Includes bibliographical references (p. 65-69) Also available online.

This minor dissertation examines victim participation at the International Criminal Court in practice, focusing on the Kenya 2 proceedings. Victim participation has always been a significant part of the mandate of the International Criminal Court, however, the actual practice of victim participation is not well expounded upon in the Rome Statute or through the legal texts of the Court. It has largely been left up to individual chambers to determine and design what modality of victim participation is suitable for the circumstances of the case before it. The Kenya situation presented a number of novel circumstances that required the Court and Counsel to implement new and innovative victim participation practices. The failures and successes of the Kenya victim participation methods deserve to be documented so that lessons can be learnt for current and future victim participation practices.

This treatise addresses the possible creation of an African criminal court for individual criminal responsibility for crime of genocide, crimes against humanity, and war crimes. It does so by critically analysing the Statutes of Special Court of Sierra Leone, International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda, and Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court in relation to the provisions addressing the principle of individual criminal responsibility, jurisdiction, amnesty and immunity. Another aim is to indicate the strength and weaknesses of the cited statutes in relation to the above provisions. Finally a further aim is to provide an analysis of the statutes, and any other international law applicable and determine whether Africa needs a separate criminal court. The principle conclusion is that statutes are facing challenges in relations to the provisions above. It is established that Africa does not have a regional criminal court and the African Union has attempted to extend jurisdiction of the African Court of Justice and Human Rights to criminal jurisdiction but the process has amounted to heavy criticism and unforeseen legal implications. It is eventually concluded that Africa may consider the creation of a separate criminal court for the future and such a court is currently not needed. Support should be given to the ICC.

The overarching argument of this thesis is that, contemporary international criminal courts and tribunals have, to varying degrees, exerted significant impacts on judicial, legislative, and executive, thoughts, processes, and actions within conflict, post-conflict and non-conflict states in the Commonwealth. This thesis analyzes evidence of these impacts by examining states in the Commonwealth, where contemporary international criminal courts and tribunals have operational and jurisdictional relevance. It does this by categorizing such states into four groups of states, conflict, post-conflict, non-conflict states and states where contemporary international criminal courts and tribunals have made marginal impacts. The thesis evaluates the impacts of contemporary international criminal courts and tribunals in these states by analyzing evidence, garnered from a study of judicial, legislative and executive actions and processes influenced directly or indirectly by contemporary international criminal courts and tribunals with operational and jurisdictional relevance in the Commonwealth. The thesis also undertakes an assessment of the overall impact of contemporary international criminal courts and tribunals in the Commonwealth on judicial, legislative and executive thoughts, actions and processes. In assessing the impact, the thesis is framed by two overarching arguments which set the tone for the discussions and analysis undertaken here. The first is that, certain factors such as engagement by the different courts and tribunals with states, the role of states actors and institutions; have helped contemporary international criminal courts and tribunals exert marginal to major influences on judicial, legislative and executive thoughts, processes and actions within the Commonwealth. The second overarching argument made in the thesis in assessing the impact of these contemporary international criminal courts and tribunals is that, certain factors such as the poor visibility of international criminal courts and tribunals within Commonwealth States, conflicting visions of justice that these courts and tribunals ought to dispense by relevant stakeholders and the non-transposition of the norms of international criminal law and international humanitarian law within Commonwealth States; have inhibited the impact of these courts and tribunals on judicial, legislative and executive thoughts, processes and actions within the Commonwealth. It concludes by noting that international criminal courts and tribunals have had different levels of impacts on states across the Commonwealth due to the coalescence of the foregoing factors.

Magister Legum - LLM
The aim of this study is to scrutinise, in particular, the legal bases of and decisions taken by various hybrid courts with regards to such consolidating or fragmenting effects on substantive international criminal law. The first section (Chapter 2), it will examine what is to be understood by the notion of a hybrid court. This will be followed by an analysis of the hybrid courts that have been established thus far. Furthermore, the advantages and reasons for which hybrid courts have been established in recent decades will be discussed, especially regarding their potential advantages as a transitional justice instrument. Moreover, disadvantages of hybrid courts and their deficiencies in the past will be addressed. Subsequently, the role of hybrid courts within the international legal system and their utility in the future will be discussed. This will include, on the one hand, the scope of the jurisdiction of hybrid courts in relation to other national and international criminal courts, especially vis-à-vis the ICC. On the other hand, it will be addressed whether hybrid courts will – or should – be established in the future, given the creation of the permanent ICC as well as the shortcomings of hybrid courts in the past. Against this background, the impact of hybrid courts on the further development of international criminal law will be assessed in the third section of the paper (Chapter 4). In this regard, the discussion will focus on a representative selection of hybrid courts, namely the Special Court for Sierra Leone (SCSL), the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia (ECCC) and the Special Tribunal for Lebanon (STL). It will be discussed how their legal bases as well as their jurisprudence relate to the previous state of international criminal law, and whether they constitute adverse diversifications or positive contributions to international criminal law. In a concluding section (Chapter 5), the results of the study will be analysed and possible correlations between the structural elements of hybrid courts and their impact on international criminal law will be discussed. Finally, further questions regarding the use of hybrid courts in the future will be addressed.

Why do states of the Global South initiate international criminal justice processes for domestic atrocity crimes? The phenomenon of Southern agency regarding international criminal justice presents an empirical and theoretical puzzle given the Southern states' defence of Westphalian sovereignty, or the juridical equality of states and domestic non-intervention. International criminal justice challenges this notion of sovereignty by directly prosecuting individuals under international law through international courts. This thesis rejects this theoretical notion that international criminal justice curbs sovereignty, and argues that the initiative for international criminal justice processes is a type of short-term political strategy adopted by Southern state actors to strengthen specific aspects of their statehood. In doing so, the thesis challenges the dominant theoretical explanations of Southern state preference that relies on their relative weakness and the power of external factors, such as Great Power interests or transnational activist networks, and reclaims the possibility of agency for Southern state actors. The argument is derived from a theory developed in this thesis, referred to as judicial extraversion, or a counter-structural theory of strategic action that links the politics of statehood in the Global South and the political opportunities inherent in the nature of international criminal justice, namely, the individualisation of responsibility, criminalisation of specific forms of violence, and the privileged status of the state in the international criminal justice system. It develops this theory through the qualitative case studies of Uganda's self-referral to the International Criminal Court (ICC), Cambodia's request for an international criminal tribunal to the UN, and the counterexample of Colombia's special domestic criminal justice process for paramilitary demobilisation. The thesis finds that relative weakness of Southern states is insufficient to explain engagement with international criminal justice, and highlights the possibility of paradoxical agency. Finally, the findings suggest that, under particular circumstances, international criminal justice can be used to entrench the authority of weaker states in the international system.

Thesis (LLM)--University of Stellenbosch, 2002.
ENGLISH ABSTRACT: The permanent International Criminal Court (ICC) will come into operation after the 60th ratification of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court of 1998. The ICC will have jurisdiction over the most serious international crimes, namely war crimes, genocide and crimes against humanity. The focus of this thesis is the difficulties surrounding the admissibility of a case before the ICC. There are basically two legs to this analysis: jurisdiction and complementarity .. Jurisdiction of the ICC is analysed in historical and theoretical context. This comprises an overview of the international tribunals since the First World War, and more specifically their impact on the development of jurisdiction in international criminal law. Secondly, the thesis is examining the jurisdiction of the ICC in terms of the specific provisions of the Rome Statute. This analysis comprises a detailed analysis of all the provisions of the Rome Statute that have an impact on the exercise of the ICC's jurisdiction. The relationship between the ICC and national courts is a difficult relationship based on a compromise at the Rome Conference in 1998. The principle underlying this relationship is known as "complementarity". This : means that the ICC will only exercise its jurisdiction if a national court is "unwilling" or "unable" to exercise its jurisdiction. A detailed analysis of the different provisions of the Rome Statute, as well as some references to other international tribunals, serve to analyse the impact of complementarity on the eventual ambit of the ICC's jurisdiction. In conclusion, some suggestions regarding the admissibility of cases and the difficult relationship between the ICC and national courts are made.
AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Die permanente Internasionale Strafhof (ISH) sal met sy werksaamhede begin na die 60ste ratifikasie van die Statuut van Rome van 1998. Die ISH sal jurisdiksie uitoefen oor die ernstigste internasionale misdade, tewete oorlogsmisdade, volksmoord en misdade teen die mensdom. Hierdie tesis fokus op die probleme rondom die toelaatbaarheid van 'n saak voor die ISH. Hierdie ontleding het basies twee bene: jurisdiksie en komplementariteit. Die jurisdiksie van die ISH word in historiese en teoretiese konteks ontleed. Dit behels 'n oorsig van die internasionale tribunale sedert die Eerste Wêreldoorlog, en meer spesifiek die impak wat hierdie tribunale op die ontwikkeling van jurisdiksie in die internasionale strafreg gehad het. In die tweede plek word jurisdiksie ontleed aan die hand van die spesifieke bepalings van die Statuut van Rome. Hierdie ontleding behels 'n gedetaileerde ontleding van al die bepalings van die Statuut van Rome wat 'n impak het op die uitoefening van die ISH se jurisdiksie. Die verhouding tussen die ISH en nasionale howe is 'n komplekse verhouding, gebaseer op 'n kompromie wat by die Rome Konferensie van 1998 aangegaan is. Die beginselonderliggend aan hierdie verhouding staan bekend as "komplementariteit". Dit beteken dat die ISH slegs sy jurisdiksie sal uitoefen indien 'n nasionale hof "onwillig" of "nie in staat is" om jurisdiksie uit te oefen nie. 'n Gedetaileerde ontleding van die verskillende bepalings van die Statuut van Rome, sowel as verwysings na ander internasionale tribunale, dien om die impak van komplementariteit op die omvang van die ISH se jurisdiksie, te ontleed. Ten slotte word sekere voorstelle aangaande die toelaatbaarheid van sake en die verhouding tussen die ISH en nasionale howe gemaak.

This thesis seeks to answer the principal question as to whether international criminal justice systems can serve as adequate truth-ascertaining forums. In doing so, it reviews the practice of three international criminal justice systems: the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY), the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) and the International Criminal Court (ICC). It is not the purpose of this research to review the black letter law adopted and applied by these international tribunals and court, but rather to review the implementation of the legal principles in practice. It is a socio-legal research project which focuses on the practice of the tribunals and court. It discusses socio-legal, institutional and political issues relating to the ascertainment of the truth in international criminal justice. In addition, it examines the gaps between the theory and practice of ascertaining the truth in the ICTY, ICTR and ICC. It does so principally by exploring the roles of the parties, participants and judges in ascertaining the truth. This includes the obstacles they face in doing so and the responses given, if any, to accommodate these difficulties. Challenges include the politicised climate of most post-conflict societies, the remoteness of the crime base areas from the seat of the Court, the lack of enforcement mechanisms and reliance on State cooperation, as well as the unfamiliarities with the cultural and linguistic features of the affected communities. This thesis reveals that these difficulties are not the principal cause of truth-searching impediments. Indeed, it is asserted that the ascertainment of the truth can be fair and effective notwithstanding these difficulties. It also demonstrates that truth-ascertaining impediments are mainly caused by failures to adequately investigate the crimes and relevant evidence. At the ICTY, investigations have been carried out in the most efficient and fair manner possible under the circumstances. By contrast, the ICTR and ICC investigations are far from adequate and should be improved. The Prosecution should make more efforts to obtain the best evidence available. It further concludes that international justice systems have set their goals too highly. Instead of seeking to meet objectives such as reconciliation, peace and security, they should restrict their focus to the question as to whether the guilt of a particular accused has been established in respect of the crimes charged.

Thesis (LLD)--Stellenbosch University, 2012.
Includes bibliography
ENGLISH ABSTRACT: The existential crisis of the international regime of criminal law is arguably a thing of the past. This is confirmed through a growing body of positive law and the existence of various international criminal courts, notably the permanent International Criminal Court which has been in operation since 2002. Moreover, it is significant that international criminal law (“ICL”) is developing towards increased domestic enforcement, in particular as a result of the complementarity regime envisioned by the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court. States have generally been receptive and cooperative towards international criminal norms as well as the structures of international criminal justice. As a result international criminal laws are increasingly being transformed into national law and enforced by states on the domestic level. Chapter 2 provides an overview of the abovementioned developments, the characteristics of ICL and certain key concepts. In lieu of the upward trajectory of ICL’s development, the thesis aims to determine whether ICL exerts an influence which holds ‘transformative value’. Chapter 3 unpacks this concept by delineating the different meanings afforded to transformation and identifying the reticent characteristics of transformative change, especially the underlying importance of values during processes of transformation. Transformative value is conceptualised broadly as the product and potential of the type of change that holds some utility for the civitas maxima (or the community of mankind). In Part II, ICL’s transformative value is investigated from a historical and global perspective with emphasis on the purposes, values and politics of international criminal justice. Chapter 4 focuses on the Nuremberg IMT and the trial of Adolf Eichmann. It is submitted that these trials produced a paradigm shift that represents the transformative foundation of modern ICL. Chapter 5 investigates the purposes and aspirations of modern ICL with reference to its underlying assumptions as well as its objectives, the latter which may be found in positive law and the jurisprudence of international criminal courts. The research suggests that ICL is disposed towards objectives which are unique in comparison to those of domestic criminal law. While it cannot be denied that punishment under ICL is predominantly a backward-looking exercise in the tradition of domestic criminal law retributivism, ICL is somewhat removed from this paradigm due to its purpose- and value-driven nature. ICL is also expressive, normative and forward-looking in various respects. Individual criminal liability is however not universally accepted as an appropriate response to collective violence. This is partly a result of ICL’s endemic political dependency. Chapter 6 addresses the impact of politics on ICL’s transformative value. ICL is closely associated with liberal-legalist ideals which essentially promote the interests of individuals. Although it constitutes an important element of ICL’s transformative value, this political influence exposes ICL to criticism and may exert a disruptive influence on its transformative mandate. In this latter respect it is noted that ICL remains somewhat controversial and subject to the general limitations of the decentralised and state-dominated international legal system. In Part III, ICL’s transformative value is investigated using South Africa as a case study, with particular reference to its transitional- and post-transitional periods. Chapter 7 provides a domestic perspective of ICL’s transformative value by investigating the interactions of ICL and the South African legal system, particularly the value of the transformation of ICL into national law. In this regard the impact of Constitutional provisions and national legislation pertaining to ICL are considered, as well as a number of cases related to matters of international criminal justice. It is argued that international criminal norms may promote human values over state authority and political interests in the domestic context. Domestic courts may serve as ‘engine rooms’ for transformative change through more effective enforcement of those international criminal norms that have been ‘transformed’ into national law through implementation legislation. The permeation of international criminal norms into the domestic sphere represents a foray of universal values into an area traditionally dominated by sovereign might and holds potential for promoting the interests of individuals as well as for the institutionalisation of human rights. Yet, as illustrated by the current rift between the ICC and the African Union, international and regional political affiliations may influence the ability of a state to meet its obligations towards international criminal justice. In Part IV (Chapter 8), it is submitted that ICL is historically and ontologically aimed at change that is both backward-looking (repressive) and forward-looking (normative) as well as beneficial in a communitarian sense. ICL’s transformative value derives from the value-and purpose-driven nature of international criminal norms, the political nature of international criminal justice and also from the interaction between international law and domestic legal systems. ICL may be viewed as an authoritative expression of the norms and values of the international community. As such, ICL and its institutions may be viewed not only as a means of punishing the perpetrators of international crime, but also as part of the spearhead towards a desired alternative to the historical and present reality characterised by injustices which have gone unabated under the system of traditional Westphalian sovereignty. As egregious forms of the aforementioned injustices, macro criminality and impunity undermine the protection of internationally recognised individual rights. ICL seeks to remedy this through impacting on those individuals that have not yet acceded to the emergent universal consciousness of the majority in the international community. It is further argued that ICL’s transformative impact is not confined to the “hard” impact of the application of substantive ICL in international and domestic courts. The international criminal justice system as a whole also produces a normative impact through a purpose-driven association with international values and certain political preferences. This thesis offers a new way of thinking about the value, potential and limitations of the ICL regime, as well as the role of politics in international criminal justice.
AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Die eksistensiële krisis van die internasionale strafregbestel is stellig iets van die verlede. Dít word bevestig deur die toenemende hoeveelheid positieweregsmateriaal en die bestaan van verskeie internasionale strafhowe, in die besonder die permanente Internasionale Strafhof wat sedert 2002 in werking is. Daarbenewens is dit beduidend dat internasionale strafreg (hierna ‘ISR’) na binnelandse toepassing begin verskuif, bepaald as gevolg van die komplementariteitsregime wat die Rome Statuut van die Internasionale Strafhof beoog. State is oor die algemeen ontvanklik vir, en tegemoetkomend jeens, internasionale strafnorme sowel as die strukture van internasionale strafregspleging. Gevolglik word internasionale strafwette al hoe meer tot in nasionale wette getransformeer en binnelands deur state toegepas. Hoofstuk 2 bied ’n oorsig van bogenoemde ontwikkelings, die kenmerke van ISR en bepaalde kernbegrippe. In die lig van die opwaartse ontwikkelingstrajek van ISR, het dié tesis ten doel om te bepaal of die invloed wat ISR uitoefen, oor ‘transformasiewaarde’ beskik. Hoofstuk 3 ondersoek hierdie begrip deur die verskillende betekenisse van transformasie uiteen te sit en die versweë kenmerke van transformerende verandering, veral die onderliggende belang van waardes in die transformasieproses, te bepaal. Transformasiewaarde word in die breë verstaan as die produk en potensiaal van die soort verandering wat een of ander nut het vir die civitas maxima (of die gemeenskap van die mensdom). In deel II word die transformasiewaarde van ISR uit ’n historiese en internasionale hoek ondersoek, met die klem op die doel, waardes en politiek van internasionale strafregspleging. Hoofstuk 4 konsentreer op die Neurenberg- internasionale militêre tribunaal en die verhoor van Adolf Eichmann. Daar word aangevoer dat hierdie verhore ’n paradigmaverskuiwing teweeggebring het wat die transformerende grondslag van moderne ISR gelê het. Hoofstuk 5 verken die doelwitte en aspirasies van moderne ISR aan die hand van die onderliggende aannames en oogmerke daarvan. Laasgenoemde is te vinde in die positiewe reg en regsleer van internasionale strafhowe. Die navorsing doen aan die hand dat die oogmerke van ISR uniek is in vergelyking met dié van binnelandse strafreg. Hoewel straf ingevolge ISR onteenseglik ’n hoofsaaklik terugblikkende oefening in die vergeldingstradisie van nasionale strafreg is, is ISR tog ietwat verwyderd van hierdie paradigma vanweë die doel- en waardegedrewe aard daarvan. ISR is in baie opsigte ook ekspressief, normatief en toekomsgerig. Individuele strafregtelike aanspreeklikheid word egter nie allerweë as ’n toepaslike reaksie op kollektiewe geweld aanvaar nie. Dít is deels ’n gevolg van die endemiese politieke afhanklikheid van ISR. Hoofstuk 6 handel derhalwe oor die impak van politiek op die transformasiewaarde van ISR. ISR hou ten nouste verband met liberaal-legalistiese ideale wat in wese individue se belange bevorder. Hoewel dit ’n belangrike element van die ISR-transformasiewaarde uitmaak, stel hierdie politieke invloed ISR ook bloot aan kritiek, en kan dit ’n ontwrigtende uitwerking op die transformasiemandaat daarvan hê. In dié verband word daarop gelet dat ISR ietwat omstrede bly, sowel as onderworpe aan die algemene beperkinge van die gedesentraliseerde en staatsoorheerste internasionale regstelsel. In deel III word die transformasiewaarde van ISR aan die hand van Suid-Afrika as gevallestudie ondersoek, met bepaalde verwysing na die oorgangs- en na-oorgangstydperke van die land. Hoofstuk 7 bied ’n binnelandse beskouing van die transformasiewaarde van ISR deur ondersoek in te stel na die wisselwerking tussen ISR en die Suid-Afrikaanse regstelsel, veral die waarde van die transformasie van ISR tot in die nasionale reg. In hierdie verband word daar besin oor die impak van grondwetlike bepalings en nasionale wetgewing met betrekking tot ISR, sowel as ’n aantal hofsake in verband met aangeleenthede van internasionale strafregspleging. Daar word aangevoer dat internasionale strafnorme in binnelandse verband straks mensewaardes bo staatsgesag en politieke belange bevorder. Binnelandse howe dien moontlik as ‘enjinkamers’ vir transformerende verandering, deur daardie internasionale strafnorme wat deur inwerkingstellingswetgewing tot in die nasionale reg ‘getransformeer’ is, doeltreffender toe te pas. Die deurdringing van internasionale strafnorme tot in die binnelandse sfeer stel ’n verskeidenheid universele waardes bekend op ’n gebied wat tradisioneel deur soewereine mag oorheers is, en hou potensiaal in vir die bevordering van individuele belange sowel as vir die institusionalisering van menseregte. Soos die huidige skeuring tussen die Internasionale Strafhof en die Afrika-unie egter toon, kan internasionale en streek- politieke bande ’n invloed hê op ’n staat se vermoë om sy verpligtinge teenoor internasionale strafregspleging na te kom. In deel IV (hoofstuk 8) word aangevoer dat ISR histories en ontologies afgestem is op terugblikkende (onderdrukkende) én toekomsgerigte (normatiewe) verandering, sowel as verandering wat een of ander gemeenskapsvoordeel inhou. Die transformasiewaarde van ISR spruit uit die waarde- en doelgedrewe aard van internasionale strafnorme, die politieke aard van internasionale strafregspleging, sowel as die wisselwerking tussen internasionale reg en binnelandse regstelsels. ISR kan as ’n gesaghebbende openbaring van die internasionale gemeenskap se norme en waardes beskou word. As sodanig, is ISR en die instellings daarvan nie net ’n middel om die plegers van internasionale misdaad te straf nie, maar ook deel van die strewe na ’n wenslike alternatief vir die historiese én huidige realiteit, wat gekenmerk word deur onregte wat ongebreideld onder die stelsel van tradisionele Wesfaalse soewereiniteit voortduur. Makrokriminaliteit en strafloosheid, synde uiterste vorme van voormelde onregte, ondermyn die beskerming van internasionaal erkende individuele regte. ISR beoog om dít reg te stel deur ’n invloed uit te oefen op daardie individue wat nóg nie die ontluikende universele bewustheid van die meerderheid in die internasionale gemeenskap openbaar nie. Daar word voorts betoog dat die transformerende impak van ISR nie tot die ‘harde’ impak van die toepassing van substantiewe ISR in internasionale en binnelandse howe beperk is nie. Die stelsel van internasionale strafregspleging in die geheel het ook ’n normatiewe impak deur middel van ’n doelgedrewe verbondenheid aan internasionale waardes en bepaalde politieke voorkeure. Hierdie tesis bied ’n nuwe denkwyse oor die waarde, potensiaal en beperkings van die ISR-bestel, sowel as die rol van politiek in internasionale strafregspleging.
Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin for financial support
Stellenbosch University for financial support

By any standard, victim participation is a relatively new phenomenon in international criminal law proceedings. Incredible advances have been made in the effort to end impunity for crimes against 
umanity, war crimes, genocide and, more recently, aggression. As a result, great strides have been made in ensuring the direct participation of victims of grave violations of human rights 
in court proceedings against their perpetrators. Prior to this, grave violations of human rights committed during conflicts or periods of mass violence were either largely ignored or even if action 
was taken, victims of the crimes hardly had a &lsquo
say&rsquo
in the proceedings. With the advent of the International Criminal Court (ICC) and the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia (ECCC) 
 
new dawn in the proceedings of international criminal law has emerged. The statutes that govern the ICC and ECCC have given a voice to victims in court proceeding buy ensuring 
victims participation.Despite these advances, scholars have criticized victim participation for being inconsistent in its application at the International Criminal Court.1 The criticism has come from 
scholars who have highlighted the unintended consequences of victim participation in court proceedings, arguing that their participation has resulted in the under- or misrepresentation of the 
actual experience of survivors of war, mass violence, or repression. These problems have arisen largely because the need to establish the guilt or innocence of the accused and to protect their 
due process rights, to abide by the rules of evidence and procedure, and to conserve judicial resources all cut against victim-witnesses'ability to tell their stories at these tribunals thereby 
resulting in a limited, and sometimes inaccurate, record of victims' experience.

In the case of LaGrand (Germany v United States), the International Court of Justice held that the United States (US) had violated its international obligation to Germany under the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations when it executed two German nationals without first informing them of their consular rights. The case came before the court after the United States had disregarded a preliminary ruling passed by the IC], which directed the US not to execute the German nationals pending the outcome of the ICJ case. The decision raised the issue of the effect of ICJ decisions in domestic proceedings and the effectiveness of ICJ enforcement mechanisms. This thesis considers the possibility of a role for national courts as active enforcers of ICJ decisions. It is argued that whilst evidence shows that there is no legal obligation on courts to enforce ICJ decisions, there is certainly room in international law to facilitate this development. In support of this argument, the thesis demonstrates how basic presuppositions about international law have shifted over the last few decades. This shift has been both the impetus and the result of globalisation. The case of LaGrand alongside similar cases is used to show how national courts may play an increased role in the enforcement of ICJ decisions.

This item is only available in print in the UCF Libraries. If this is your Honors Thesis, you can help us make it available online for use by researchers around the world by following the instructions on the distribution consent form at http://library.ucf.edu/Systems/DigitalInitiatives/DigitalCollections/InternetDistributionConsentAgreementForm.pdf You may also contact the project coordinator, Kerri Bottorff, at kerri.bottorff@ucf.edu for more information.
Bachelors
Sciences
Political Science

Magister Legum - LLM
Hybrid Courts are the latest innovation in the prosecution of international crimes after the era of the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) and the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY). Examples include; the Extraordinary African Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia, the Regulation 64 Panels in the courts of Kosovo and the Special Court for Sierra Leone. The hybrid court model at its inception was believed to be the panacea for the short comings of purely international tribunals. The characteristic location of the tribunals in the locus of the atrocities and the participation of local judicial officers alongside their international counterparts was expected to promote legitimacy and foster capacity building for conflict ravaged transitional states. Despite the criticisms of the model today, a new hybrid court has recently been inaugurated to prosecute Hissène Habré the former President of Chad, for international crimes committed during his presidency. The promulgation of the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Senegal suggests that the model continues to be useful, especially for Africa. This is of particular significance since international criminal justice has lately come under attack on the continent. The on-going feud between the African Union and the International Criminal court is only the most prolific example of this. This research paper explores the dimensions of the challenges facing the legitimacy of international criminal justice in Africa and the extent to which the hybrid court model can provide a solution for them. In order to do so, the study begins by addressing the meaning of legitimacy within the African context. A general discussion of hybrid tribunals, as well as the specific manifestations of the model in Africa so far, follows. The Special Court for Sierra Leone and the Extraordinary African Chambers in the Courts of Senegal are distinguishable from each other in structure and are thus juxtaposed in order to illuminate possible improvements on the hybrid court model for the future.

"This paper deals with the prosecution of a crime of crimes, genocide, at international and national levels. The international community has shown interest in penalizing perpetrators of gross human rights violations since the Nuremberg trial, and then the adoption of the 1948 UN Genocide Convention. After these times, significant numbers of international tribunals, although at an ad hoc level, have been established to punish gross violations of human rights including the crime of genocide. Along with these tribunals, quite a number of national courts have engaged in the prosecution of genocide. Nevertheless, due to legal and practical problems, the two legal systems are adopting different approaches to handle the matter, although the crime is one and the same. Therefore, the objective of this paper is to assess critically where the difference lies, the cause and impact of the disparity on the rights of the accused to fair trial. Moreover, the study will posit some recommendations that might assist to ameliorate this intermittent situation." -- Synopsis. "This work consists of five chapters. Chapter one is addressing the general introduction of the work, and it has already been discussed. Chapter two deals with the crime of genocide and its criminal responsibility as indicated under different national and international laws. The third chapter is devoted to focus on the right to fair trial and the prosecution of genocide, and specifically addresses the issues of the right to legal assistance, speedy trial, obtain and examine evidence, and sentencing. In chapter four the role of the Rome Statue in protecting the rights of the accused, its impact on on national laws, the complementarities of the International Criminal Court and national courts will be discussed. Finally, the work will come to an end by giving concluding remarks and recommendations under the fifth chapter." -- Introduction.
Thesis (LLM (Human Rights and Democratisation in Africa)) -- University of Pretoria, 2003.
Prepared under the supervision of Dr. Henry Onoria at the Faculty of Law, Makerere University, Kampala
http://www.chr.up.ac.za/academic_pro/llm1/dissertations.html
Centre for Human Rights
LLM

This dissertation in four essays critically examines the emergence of international criminal courts: their international political underpinnings, context, and the impact of their political production in relation to liberal legalism, liberal political theory, and history. The essays conceive of international criminal legal bodies both as political projects at their inception and as institutions that deny their own political provenance. The work is primarily one of political theory at the intersection of history, international relations, international criminal law, and the politics of memory. The first essay questions Nuremberg's legacy on the United States' exceptionalist view of international law and its deviant practice, while the second essay explores the relationship between exploding inequality and the triumph of the human rights movement as well as the costs of international prosecutions to the detriment of transformative politics. The third essay explores the relationship between history and international criminal courts, as well as the limits of their engagement, while the fourth examines the idea of legalism - rule following as a moral ethos - in the context of real political trials.

The International Commission of Inquiry on Darfur (Commission) began its work in October 2004 and provided its final report only three months later on 25 January 2005.2 There, it concluded, inter alia, &ldquo
that the Government of Sudan has not pursued a policy of genocide&rdquo
and that at least the central Government authorities did not act with genocidal intent.3 However, these findings would not exclude the possibility that the atrocities committed by individuals against victims were carried out with the specific intent to destroy and therefore could possibly fulfil all necessary requirements of the crime of genocide.

Thesis (M.A. in National Security Affairs)--Naval Postgraduate School, September 2003.
Thesis advisor(s): Daniel Moran, David S. Yost. Includes bibliographical references (p. 93-102). Also available online.

Complementarity, the organizing principle of the International Criminal Court (ICC), is a largely untested concept in terms of its ability to instigate State compliance with the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court. The ICC made its debut at a time when States were routinely accused of non-compliance with international law, particularly international criminal law. Due to perennial concerns over the protection of State sovereignty, an ingenious system of allocation of competencies between States and the ICC was evolved. This is embodied by the principle of complementarity. At the heart of complementarity is an arrangement by which States Parties to the Rome Statute of the ICC are regarded as the prime fora for the prosecution of crimes of grave concern to the international community. In the event of inaction, however, the ICC is mandated to wrest specific cases from the jurisdiction of national courts and try them. In effect, a carrot-and-stick mechanism has been built into the Rome Statute to induce States to comply with the Statute. This thesis examines the principle of complementarity from a theoretical perspective, bearing in mind contemporary international law structures and institutions. A better understanding of the theoretical assumptions of complementarity, it is suggested, will foster a more effective application of the tenets of the Rome Statute within the municipal system. The thesis argues that complementarity is a catalyst for implementation of the Rome Statute only to the extent to which it alters or re-defines well established and encumbering procedures and norms within the municipal system. In this regard, although South Africa’s status of constitutional democracy may be reason to expect that the obligations imposed by the Rome Statute will be observed, that very fact may increase the inclination to preserve the “baseline of conduct” rather than be swayed by the Rome Statute. An illustrative excursion into South African rules and norms is undertaken, after which the argument is advanced that not much change has been effected to the South African legal landscape through implementation of the Rome Statute. The sole exception to this is the issue of prosecutorial discretion. On this, the South African legislature has uniquely crafted a mechanism for ensuring accountability, presumably with a view to ensuring that South Africa is always able to prosecute the crimes concerned. However, the thesis cautions against complacency, arguing that the tension between national law and international obligations may yet play itself out, owing to insufficient attention to the role of national courts in giving effect to the Rome Statute. The act of implementation may be a response to stimuli such as the perceived need to avoid civil liability for international crimes, or the general inertia of implementing human rights instruments. Therefore, the carrot-and-stick mechanism may be lacking in the compulsive qualities it is presumed to have. Through an exploratory survey of South African law, the thesis illustrates that prosecutorial accountability is the major factor in determining whether a State has fully complied with is obligations under the Rome Statute. However, it also points out that the way courts of law apply the new norms in municipal systems in the future will be crucial.

O presente trabalho busca analisar criticamente a atual conformação da justiça penal internacional, identificando as principais dificuldades que enfrenta e propondo uma nova direção que possa servir a mitigar esses problemas e a atingir os fins que declara ter como objetivo. Segundo se pretendeu demonstrar nesta tese, a atual condição da justiça penal internacional, que evoluiu substancialmente no pós-Guerra Fria em conjunto com a proteção internacional dos direitos humanos, constitui-se sobre uma proposta unicamente repressiva. Esse modelo se manifesta no combate aos crimes universais pela priorização da atuação de tribunais penais internacionais e pela definição internacional de padrões obrigatórios a serem seguidos pelos Estados. Todavia, essa proposta padece de diversas dificuldades que podem ser resumidas em dois aspectos principais: tanto na sua incapacidade de se fazer executar, o que lhe retira a independência que se espera de um sistema judicial, quanto na sua indefinição quanto aos fins que persegue. Dessa forma, conclui-se que a aplicação da pena, no plano internacional, é um exercício político que demanda, portanto, limitação. Além disso, como resposta aos graves efeitos dos crimes universais, a justiça penal internacional precisa ser repensada segundo uma proposta também prospectiva que, aliada à repressão, possa servir à evitação de crimes universais e à garantia da paz e dos direitos humanos. Essa proposta é o que se denomina de política criminal universal.
This study aims to critically analyze the current conformation of international criminal justice, identifying the main difficulties that it faces and proposing a new direction that may serve to mitigate these problems and allow the achievement of the goals purposed by states in international arena. According to this thesis, the current status of the international criminal justice, which has evolved substantially in the post-Cold War together with the international protection of human rights, is based on a solely repressive proposal. This model manifests itself, regarding the combat of universal crimes, by priorizing the creation of international criminal courts and through the definition of international standards that are compulsory to States. However, this proposal suffers from several difficulties which can be summarized in two major points: its incapacity to enforce itself, which may endanger the essential independence required from a judicial system, and its inability in deciding its own goals. Thus, it is possible to conclude that the international imposition of a criminal sentence is a dangerous political exercise that demands limitation. Furthermore, in response to the serious effects of universal crimes, international criminal justice needs to be rethought according to a proposal that is also prospective, which, coupled with repression, can serve to the prevention of universal crimes and to ensure universal peace and human rights. This proposal is what is called a universal criminal policy.

The aim of this project is to examine the emergence of non- governmental organization (NGO) networking by conducting a case study of the NGO Coalition for an International Criminal Court (CICC). It explores the role of this Coalition in the context of the growing movement towards a "global civic politics." An in- depth look at this Coalition is unveiled through primary sources, interviews, and observations. Using a three- tiered model of networking, one can better understand NGO collaboration and networking that are unique in the field of international human rights law and indicative of a new trend in international politics. This model is developed from Timothy Luke and Gearóid à Tuathail's conception of geopolitical nature, Castells' conception of networks, and then modified to apply to political mediation. NGOs have acted as part of the engine behind the creation of an International Criminal Court in numerous ways. They have amassed over 900 organizations in support of a strong permanent court, as well as fostered relationships with the United Nations, and state governments, and regional blocs. By using this three- tiered framework, I will investigate the networking capacity and functions of the Coalition. The basic research question to be answered is: How does the CICC explain the role of NGOs as mediating agents between states and institutions within the context of contemporary global society?
Master of Arts